The first-gen Google Pixel Watch was a decent effort from Google despite its dated internals. While thePixel Watch 2retains the same design as its predecessor, it’s a superior wearable with updated internals and health sensors. That’s why it ranks high on our list of thebest Android smartwatches. If you recently got your hands on Google’s latest smartwatch, check out its top features to get the most out of it.
Improved health tracking
The Pixel Watch’s health-tracking capabilities were sub-par compared to the competition. With the Pixel Watch 2, Google made substantial improvements in this area. Thanks to a new heart-rate sensor with multiple LEDs, Google claims its newest smartwatch provides up to 40% more accurate heart rate tracking during intense workout sessions.
A new continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor allows the smartwatch to monitor stress using your heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin temperature. When it detects your body is under stress or excited, a notification pops up, prompting you to log your mood and take action to help reduce your stress levels. The feature has worked well in our testing and has made us more mindful of various stress factors in daily life.
The Pixel Watch 2’s Fitbit integration complements the advanced health-tracking capabilities of the watch. While you can get the same health features on other Android wearables, the Fitbit integration gives Google’s smartwatch an edge over its competition as it can do more with the collected data.
All-day battery life
The original Pixel Watch felt lacking in the battery life department. Google claimed the wearable could last 24 hours, provided you don’t use Always-on display. This pales compared to theSamsung Galaxy Watch 5and Watch 6 series, which average around 30 hours on a single charge with Always-on display turned on.
With its more efficient and modern Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip, the Pixel Watch 2 lasts longer than its predecessor. Google claims up to 24 hours of battery life with Always-on display activated, which means a 50% improvement over the Pixel Watch. In our experience with Always-on display off (around 45 minutes of workout tracking, 10 to 15 minutes of walking, and sleep tracking), the Pixel Watch 2 lasts 24 hours with about 30% left in its tank. That’s impressive, considering the smartwatch has a 41mm casing and uses a 306mAh cell.
If you’re unhappy with how long your watch lasts, check out ourtips to extend your Pixel Watch 2’s battery life.
Fast charging
Apart from a long battery life, you want a smartwatch that charges quickly. The Pixel Watch 2 nails this. A 30-minute charge is enough to top the wearable’s cell from 0% to 50%, while the 80% mark comes at a claimed 43 minutes. A full top-up takes considerably longer at 75 minutes, but that’s due to Google slowing down the charging speed to increase the battery’s lifespan. Still, you can put your Pixel Watch on charge while you get a shower, and it will be ready for all-day use when you are out.
The Pixel Watch 2’s charging speeds appear even faster when compared to the original Pixel Watch. Googlediscreetly slowed down the latter’s cell top-up speedsbecause of the excess heat generated. Due to this, the Pixel Watch takes 75 minutes to go from 0% to 80%, while the Pixel Watch 2 charges to full in the same duration.
To achieve higher charging speeds, Google switched to a new pin-based charging mechanism on its latest smartwatch, which means itlacks wireless charging support. But that’s a small price to pay for the faster recharge times.
Safety features
Apart from showing the important notifications on your wrist and tracking your health, the Pixel Watch 2 helps you keep safe. It packs several safety features, which could save your life in an emergency. With Emergency Sharing and Safety Check, you provide real-time location updates to your emergency contacts. It’s a handy option when you feel unsafe in an unknown location. At the end of the specified timer, your emergency contacts are automatically informed if you don’t confirm you are safe.
Safety Signal is another life-saving feature that allows the Pixel Watch 2 to connect to emergency services during an emergency, even when you don’t have an active carrier plan. This feature is limited to the Pixel Watch 2’s LTE variant andrequires a Fitbit Premium subscription.
Read aboutthe safety features on the Pixel Watch 2to find out more about them, and make sure to set them up after that.
Google’s best smartwatch yet
The Pixel Watch 2 isn’t perfect. But it’s Google’s best wearable, with impressive features. RunningWear OS 4, the experience of using the Pixel Watch 2 is better than what you get on Samsung’s Galaxy Watch. The deep Fitbit integration is another highlight you don’t find on other Wear OS watches.
Now that you know about the top features of your new smartwatch, learnhow to use Smart Lock with the Pixel Watchto make unlocking your phone a breeze.
Google Pixel Watch 2
Google’s second smartwatch fixes all the wrongs of the first model. The Pixel Watch 2 packs an upgraded chipset, delivering all-day battery life while performing much better. The redesigned digital crown might appear like a small change, but it has a positive impact on daily use.
